There is an ever-increasing awareness in the medical and hospital industry of the need to safely containerize, transport and dispose of infectious medical waste. The fear of contamination from contact with infectious bodily fluids has become a great concern to all.
Infectious medical waste may be considered as comprising two primary categories related to its physical characteristics. The soft waste category may be characterized by such things as masks, gloves, bandages, pillows, cotton products, in general, anything which is not "sharp." The sharp waste category is characterized by such things as needles, syringes, scalpel blades, glass or broken glass, in general, things which present edges which can puncture or cut.
The most common current practices for collection and disposal of infectious medical waste are rather crude and require the separate disposal of sharp waste and soft waste. It is believed that over 90% of the hospitals and doctor offices that currently generate infectious medical waste dispose of the soft waste in a fiberboard box lined with a red trash bag which serves to contain some of the liquids that are disposed of. Waste is thrown into the box/bag until the box is full. The flaps at the top of the box are folded over and taped shut. The box is then transported for incineration at another location. One major disadvantage with the use of the box and bag is that the system allows liquids to soak through the box, contaminating the work area. Although the plastic bag is a barrier if it remains intact, all plastic bags can leak with only the smallest of punctures. This can easily occur due to the presence of improperly disposed of sharp waste that gets mixed in with the soft waste. This can easily puncture the sides of the cardboard box and injure workers. In addition, the waste is exposed to the air until the box is closed and hauled away, which can be days or weeks. Another big disadvantage is the expense of using the box and bag only once. They are usually incinerated, together with the contents.
Sharp waste is currently disposed of in puncture-proof, disposable plastic containers which are sized anywhere from one quart to five gallons. While these containers do an adequate job of containerizing the sharp waste, they are also designed to be disposable and, therefore, expensive. It is estimated that an average hospital will spend almost $200 per bed per year on these sharp waste containers.
Some hospitals have experimented with reusable medical waste disposal containers, which are nothing more than large plastic trash cans with lids. These containers are meant to transport waste through the hospital to an incinerator or other point of disposal. Once the containers have arrived at their destination, the contents must be dumped out, which increases the chance of workers coming into contact with infectious waste. After these containers have been used, they must be cleaned and disinfected in some manner.
It must be recognized that the soft waste and sharp waste are frequently generated at the same location. Bandages are removed and injections given at the same location. It would be desirable to have a unit to contain and receive both types of waste. Such a unit should facilitate the separation of the two types of waste without interfering one with the other. It should be designed to accept bulky soft waste in a large compartment and sharp waste in a smaller compartment, while keeping the two kinds of waste separate. Cost considerations dictate that the unit used for collection, containment and transport should be safely reusable. The unit should be transportable without danger of losing the contents if overturned during normal operations, and should be treatable in some manner for reuse without reintroducing infectious agents into the patient areas. The contained waste and the containment unit are preferably sterilizable by application of heat energy and/or steam. The unit should be nestable and stackable to conserve valuable medical storage space. The invention described herein meets these criteria and more.